Tincture is considered
to encompass colors, metals and furs. In colored displays of arms, tincture
is fairly self-evident. However, in black and white representations of
arms (such as most bookplates), the tincture of the various aspects must
be represented through hatching (i.e., patterns of lines and dots).
These hatching patterns are shown below.

Of the various tinctures,
the fur vair requires some additional description. Vair
is traditionally argent and azure (i.e., silver and blue).
If no colors are mentioned in the blazoning, it is assumed to be done
with those traditional tinctures. When the pattern appears in other tinctures,
it is said to be vairy. For example, if the patterns shown are
dots and vertical stripes, the object so drawn is blazoned vairy or
and gules.

It is traditional
in heraldry that the design should always be such that color is not laid
upon color, nor metal upon metal. While this rule is not universally adhered
to, it is generally the case that a shield will have either metal charges
upon a colored background, or colored charges upon a metal background.